Awesome day!

Today, Matt and I took a break from documenting crèches, and instead worked on documenting senior centers. We got through seven of the centers, and when we start back to work on July 1, we will finish out the remaining seven centers. It was nice to have a break from the crèches, which are very informal and sometimes very run down, to work on documenting the senior centers, which are much newer and more developed.

Leading us today, were Tutu and Pumula. They are both amazing women. Tutu actually started Ikamva’s Senior Centre branch. She has been with Ikamva for over 30 years. Originally, Tutu was working with the Red Cross, going through and helping the people in the townships. Over time, she noticed a glaring need for the seniors of the townships to have a place to go. Before, she said, most of the attention was given to the younger generations, while the older people were mostly forgotten. She started working with them because of this. Eventually, she met up with Helen Lieberman, and the two of them began working to fund and construct these senior centers.

Over 30 years later, her work has definitely paid off. The centers are amazing. They provide solid, safe structures for all of the senior citizens to come together and interact with one another. They do exercises with the seniors, as well as lead them in knitting groups. All of the seniors there are so happy. They sang to Matt and I at one of the centers.

There is also another aspect of the senior centers that we just learned about today. Apparently, the local schools have a program where they send groups of students to a senior center once a month. The students, usually a choir or singing group, will come to the senior center and perform for the seniors. We witnessed one of these singing groups today. They were really good. The seniors were up dancing and singing with them. The students are also encouraged to listen to the stories of the seniors. Pumula told me that this is done so that the students will get a glimpse into their culture and heritage. As many of the students do not have grandparents, this is a way for them to have that experience and to learn and understand the past.

This is a great program, one that I wish was implemented in the US, as so many of the seniors in the senior centers back home rarely if ever get to interact with the younger generations. To see how energetic and happy the seniors are here, and to see how most of the seniors are back home who live in retirement homes, there is no comparison. Here, everyone is lively and happy. I’ve rarely seen anyone in a retirment home be this happy and jubilant back home.

Anyway, back to our guides. The other guide was Pumula. She has been working with Ikamva and Tutu for the past 20 or so years. She is in charge of the Noluthundo Senior Centre, located in New Crossroads. Pumula has a daughter who lives in America, in Florida actually, which is where Matt is from, who works as a nurse. Her son, meanwhile, is a detective here in South Africa. She is a very interesting woman. Matt and I really enjoyed working with them, they were very warm and welcoming, and we look forward to working with them when we get back to work on July 1.